A prior art blade server comprises a plurality of blade-type data processing modules (referred to as “blades” for short), a power supply module for supplying power to the whole system, fans for cooling the system, and a network connecting module for exchanging data with the external.
The configuration of the prior art blade server is shown in FIG. 1. Several blades may be inserted into one backboard. During calculation with high performance, it is necessary to insert an exchange card (such as InifiniBand (IB) network sub-card) in each blade, and then to connect to a high-speed switch through a straight-through module or directly connect to the high-speed switch.
The blade server further comprises an Ethernet interface. The Ethernet interface is independent of the high-speed network interface. The Ethernets of the respective blades are connected to the external environment through an Ethernet switch.
The blade server further comprises a management and monitoring network for managing and controlling the blades. A board management controller (BMC) in the respective blade is connected to a management module (MM), which is also an individual network. The major function of the BMC is to monitor (temperature, voltage, and the like, for example) the key components of the blade. The BMC is also used to achieve the functions of starting up, shutting down and network switching of the blade. The function of the management module is to manage and control the whole blade.
The backboard is a portion located in the middle of the blade server. On one hand, the backboard is used to fix the blades and other modules; on the other hand, the backboard is used to connect connection signals of the respective blades to the other modules.
Each blade is an individual computer unit, comprising a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, a chipset and an I/O chipset (such as hard disk interface, network interface and the like). When there is an Ethernet interaction between the blades, the Ethernet of blade 1 is switched by the externally connected Ethernet switch through the backboard, and then arrives at the Ethernet of blade n through the backboard again. In the case of high-speed network exchange, signals from the CPU and memory of blade 1 arrives at the backboard through the I/O chipset and the high-speed network sub-card, and then arrive at the externally connected high-speed switch through the straight-through module connected to the backboard. After the data exchange is completed, the signals return to the high-speed network sub-card, the I/O chipset, and then to the memory and the CPU of blade n through the backboard. Data exchange between any blades is achieved by the externally connected switch module or switch.
KVM is an abbreviation for Keyboard, Video and Mouse, and is used to manage the video switching of the system. The blade server comprises a plurality of blades, each of which may have different operating system installed. When switching to view the KVM of the respective blade, the switching of the KVM network is carried out by the management module. The KVM network is an individual network, which is separate from the high-speed network, the Ethernet, and the management and monitoring network. It is not a structure of a united multi-network.
From the above, it can be seen that the problems existing in the current blade server are: there are a plurality of networks, such as the high-speed network, the Ethernet, the KVM network, the management network, and the like; the cost for the high-speed exchange is high, because in the high-speed network, there must be the high-speed network sub-cards inserted in the respective blades, the high-speed switch device connected outside the server, and thus a large amount of connecting cables for connecting the devices; and the delay of the network exchange is great, which has a significant influence on the computing performance, because in the current structure, the exchange between the blades is carried out in the external switch, and thus the network delay is great.